Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs, led by leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari, left the Assembly floor shortly after the minister of state (finance) Chandrima Bhattacharya started her budget speech on Wednesday. Describing the budget for the 2025-26 fiscal a reflection of the state government’s insolvency, Adhikari alleged the state government betrayed Bengal’s 2.15 crore unemployed youths, Dalits and farmers.
“The insolvency of the government is reflected in every paragraph of the budget. The chief minister made employment promises when she assumed office in 2011. However, the budget contained not a single word about creating job opportunities. The budget deprives the people living across Bengal, from hills in north Bengal to Sunderbans in the Bay of Bengal. This budget is anti-farmer, anti-Dalits and anti-Matuas,” said Adhikari.
Matuas, a Hindu religious sect comprising schedule caste refugees from Bangladesh, are considered as the BJP’s vote-bank.
This was the final budget of the West Bengal government before the Trinamool Congress concludes its third term next year.
Though the state government did not mention an increase in the monthly direct bank transfer scheme for women titled Lakhhir Bhandar, which gave the ruling Trinamool Congress’s electoral advantage in two prior elections, Bengal government emphasized the rural sectors.
“We have decided to spend ₹44,000 crore for developments in gram panchayat areas and ₹1,500 core for road projects in rural areas,” announced Chandrima.
In the budget of ₹3.89 lakh crore, the state government announced to spend ₹9,600 core to construct 16 lakh houses under the scheme of Banglar Bari, a project flagged by chief minister Mamata Banerjee last year to counter PM Awas Yojona.
Banglar Bari is a rural housing scheme that completely depends on the state resources.Mamata had launched the scheme accusing the Centre of blocking funds out of a “political vendetta.”
The Mamata Banerjee-led government has long been in conflict with the Centre over the withholding of funds for key schemes like MGNREGA and PM Awas Yojona. The TMC accused the BJP-led central government of blocking the funds out of police vendetta, the saffron camp claims that corruption in the state’s implementation of these schemes is the reason for the financial restrictions.
“The budget is focused on the rural sectors because the BJP’s performance was better in rural areas than in the state’s urban areas. Eyeing the 2026 Assembly elections, Mamata Banerjee is desperate to weaken her rival’s strongholds,” said a senior TMC leader.
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